Miles Adrift, Inches Away
by pl2363
Summary: Thundercracker x Skywarp. Each harbors pent up desire for other, but due to never being upfront with one another they have remained apart...until now. *slash, don't read if you don't like*
1. Chapter 1: Two Sides

Title: Miles Adrift, Inches Away...: Two Sides

Author: pl2363

Series: Transformers AU/G1

Rating: T+

Warnings: None this round.

Notes: [Eventual] Thundercracker x Skywarp. Each harbors pent up desire for other, but due to never being upfront with one another, they remain apart. Thanks to Mirage Shinkiro for the beta!

_Also inspired in part by Anon Decepticon's seeker fics, as posted on her Livejournal._

Title borrowed and edited from the song 'Broken' by the Unkle:

"_Strung out with wings of the dawn__  
Hole in the black soul in the storm__  
Torn down through the cracks in the dark  
We're miles adrift we're inches apart"_

Also... Transformers belong to Hasbro, I am just playing with them.

The POV switches between Thundercracker and Skywarp:

* * *

Fingering the edge of his cube of energon, Thundercracker stared at its glowing contents. A slow, creeping pain radiated up the back of his neck cables, the sure sign of an impending processor-ache. Thoughts swirled and shifted in his mind, thoughts he felt totally helpless to stop. This war had been raging for so long. Death had become a constantly looming presence, but in time, he had grown used to it or, rather, mostly numb to it. Events from the day before hung over him like an electrical storm, a painful reminder of death's tight grip on their already seemingly tattered existence. It had been a raid gone terribly awry, leaving both his trinemates laid up in medbay. If it hadn't been for his quick action of plucking them off the battlefield, he might have lost them both. The images of Skywarp's left wing completely ripped off and the anguished cries that poured from his vocalizer repeated in loops in his processor, and he wondered if he could go on in the face of losing his mischievous wingmate. Starscream had also been knocked completely offline by one of those disgusting abominations the Autobots were calling 'Dinobots'.

His feelings towards Starscream had been mixed since they first met, though. Starscream was one of the most talented flyers graduating the Academy with him. His intellect was on par with the greatest scientists on Cybertron. Thundercracker did research on him after receiving an invite to join a trine with the flamboyantly painted seeker. He had never been in a class with the infamous flier, and nowhere in the records had it said Starscream was also an overambitious, self-centered glitch. Thundercracker huffed air from his intakes, annoyed by his own half-informed choice to join the trine before getting to know its leader first. He really should have found a classmate to talk to. All that aside, he was diligent hardworking warrior and flier, and once he committed to something, he followed it through. No matter what his personal feelings towards Starscream might be, he would never abandon him.

Skywarp was a whole other matter, however. Younger, inexperienced, and a renowned prankster, Skywarp had been the replacement for a member of the trine that died in a battle early on in the war. Thundercracker still remembered the day he first laid optics on the black and purple flyer, a memory file he often replayed in quiet moments...

- o - O - o -

_Every seeker not already bonded into a trine stood in the conference hall. Thundercracker arrived early and leaned against the back wall to quietly observe. His optics traced over each one, sizing them up. An all-grey flyer started cackling loudly at something another one said. He winced at the irritating sound, and for a moment imagined that cackle coupled with Starscream's grating voice. A shiver ran down his back strut at the mere thought. Upon closer look, he saw that the grey seeker wasn't nearly as large as he was, which meant he'd most likely be eliminated. Starscream liked symmetry. Whoever would replace their lost member needed to be similar in size. _

_After several kliks of watching, not a single one in the group seemed appealing in the least. Irritated, he sighed a gust of air from his intakes. _

_"Fall in!" Starscream screeched as he walked through the main doors to the conference hall. The seekers all scrambled to line up. Starscream moved to one end of the line they formed and started walking along it, looking each one over. Thundercracker could tell from the wing flicks he made that he was not at all pleased with the selection. A flash of black and purple appeared at the opposite end, catching Thundercracker's attention. He shifted his gaze to the back of seeker that literally appeared out of nowhere._

_Glancing back over, his optics met with Starscream's questioning ones. Thundercracker indicated the late arrival with sideways jerk of his head. He watched the trine leader skip down to the very end where the black and purple seeker stood at attention._

_"Designation?" asked Starscream._

_"Skywarp."_

_"You're late!" Starscream replied in shout that reverberated in the room._

_From behind, Thundercracker watched the late arrival flinch. "I know. Sorry, sir!"_

_"Did you just _teleport _here?" asked Starscream, leaning into Skywarp's space._

_"Y-yes, sir."_

_"Thundercracker, come here," Starscream commanded. _

_Thundercracker pushed himself away from the wall to stand and then proceeded to walk over. _

_Starscream pointed at the ground beside the black and purple seeker. "Stand here." Thundercracker complied, taking position beside the late arrival. "Hrm... face each other." _

_They turned toward one another, and Thundercracker got his first good look at Skywarp. The dark shades of black and purple complimented his pale face and piercing crimson optics. From appearances, this seeker also was quite young. Skywarp's optics flashed at Thundercracker as he grinned. _That was a mistake_. _

_Starscream pushed between them to face Skywarp. "You think this is a game? That this is a joke of some sort, do you?!"_

_"N-no, sir!" Skywarp's smile was instantly wiped off his face._

_In irritation, Starscream flicked his wings, which hit Thundercracker's arms. He desperately wanted to back up, but knew his commander too well. That would only slag him off more. It really didn't make much sense why Starscream's temper had so suddenly flared, though. All this anger over a late arrival? Thundercracker turned his focus to Starscream, in an attempt to figure out why his trine leader had the sudden shift in mood. The flicks of wings as he started to verbally berate Skywarp were straight back and seemed to purposely be touching Thundercracker. In his experience, when Starscream was actually torqued off his wings would rise up on his back and flick in upward motions, probably in an unconscious effort to seem taller. So what the slag was going on here? Then it dawned on him that Starscream was faking his temper. Testing Skywarp's reactions._

_"Being late is not acceptable! You think you are better than the rest of the dregs here? You think you deserve to be in this elite trine?" Starscream finally paused in his screeching to allow Skywarp to answer._

_"Yeah." Skywarp smiled broadly at Starscream. _

_Thundercracker stared in total awe at the amount of brazen confidence and complete lack of fear Skywarp exhibited. Starscream's wings touched Thundercracker again, but not in a quick flitting motion. They were pressing against him. _

_"And why do you think that, you incompetent fool?" Starscream asked._

_"'Cause I am a better flier than anyone else here, _and_ I can teleport," Skywarp replied with absolute certainty in his voice._

_Starscream grew unusually quiet. Thundercracker looked down the line of seekers all trying their best to continue looking forward despite the unfolding exchange._

_"Everyone is dismissed!" Starscream shouted. "Except you," he said at a normal volume as he pressed an index finger to Skywarp's chest._

_The seekers all scattered, leaving the hall is haste. Starscream glanced over his shoulder at Thundercracker, a small wicked smile curling his lips. "I believe we found our new member."_

- o - O - o -

"Hey, Thundercracker!"

His memory file abruptly ended at the call of his name. Lifting his vacant gaze from the energon cube, he gave nothing less than a death-glare to the mech who dared interrupt his thoughts. A dark blue cone-headed flyer stood before him, unfazed by the foreboding look directed at him. "What the frag is it, Dirge?"

"We were taking bets on how soon Ol' Screamer is gonna wind up back in medbay. Want in?"

Thundercracker furrowed his brow. "When was he let out?"

"Ah, like two or three breems ago. Megatron had him report to the control room to see him right away. You're not monitoring the comm'line?" Dirge said, looking somewhat confused by Thundercracker's lack of knowledge.

"I was distracted." He had been so lost in thought he forgot to listen in. Starscream might very well get himself slagged by Megatron in short order, seeing as he had been the lead on the mission, but there wasn't anything he could do about that. The processor-ache that been teasing at him now throbbed as it bloomed through his neural circuitry. Thundercracker moved to stand, then picked up his barely consumed energon and subspaced it. Gruffly, he pushed past Dirge to exit the commissary.

"Wait, so you don't want in on the pool?" Dirge yelled after him.

_What a bunch of low-life parasites, _he thought. "Frag off!" he snapped as he left.

His peds took him down the hallway at a brisk pace towards his shared quarters. All he wanted to do was lie down before the pain in his helm blurred his vision. Back in his room, he flopped onto his berth, lying on his front with his face pressed against its the smooth surface. He stared at the empty berth across from his. Not that he would admit it aloud, but he had grown quite attached to his troublemaker of a wingmate. He hoped Skywarp would be released from medbay soon. His optics dimmed as he quickly slipped into a recharge state, escaping the pain radiating though his head.

- - - + - - -

Systems initialized and Skywarp groaned faintly as sensors relayed pain from various areas throughout his frame. His lit his optics to see the violet-grey ceiling over him. Medbay.

"Up I see." He turned his head towards the voice. Hook stood polishing tools on at a workbench a few meters away.

"And thrilled to be in about 20 different kinds of pain," Skywarp growled.

"You want lovey-dovey-no-pain repairs done? Go see the Autobots." Hook seemed to be in an awfully foul mood.

"Next time I will!" he snapped. Skywarp struggled to sit up, his joints screaming with pain as he did. He dampened all the sensors he could to dull the sharp pain. Swinging his legs off the repair berth, he pushed to stand. "I'm discharged, right?"

"Yep," Hook replied in a curt tone.

Frowning at his caretaker, Skywarp turned and walked stiffly out of medbay. The comm. lines were oddly quiet as he tuned in while slowly making his way to the barracks. A quick check of the time told him why, it was the middle of third shift. Only a bare bones crew were on duty. Eventually he arrived at the door to his shared quarters, and with a quick input of his code, it cycled open. He headed straight for his berth as the door made a hissing sound, closing behind him. In the small half-darkened room, he slid front-first to lie on the berth's comfortable cool surface. He glanced to the side to see his trinemate deep in recharge. He noted that Thundercracker left the light near Skywarp's berth on for his inevitable return. His trinemate was always considerate in ways that still surprised him, even after all this time.

He stared across the space for a long moment at the dimly-lit sight of his roommate. Thundercracker's face was pinched in a painful-looking expression. Bad memory file dump, maybe? Skywarp had those sometimes when he recharged. Despite the look on Thundercracker's face, he still remained as handsome as ever. Regal features of a former Elite class mech that Skywarp couldn't help finding attractive. They had been roommates from the moment he joined the trine, but they had never once interfaced. No matter how much he wished he could see that handsome face twist with the pleasure of overloading, Skywarp knew that Thundercracker was very much out of his league and not someone he could casually hit on.

Growing up, Skywarp had mostly been cared for by his eldest sibling, who often stole energon to feed him and his two other brothers since both his creators were simulation junkies. They plugged into simulated worlds and fried their processors, only stopping long enough to spark merge, usually in front of the small brood they had accidentally created, then hook back up to the simulator. He also acutely remembered that burning feeling in his empty fuel tank from lack of energon. His eldest brother eventually trooped them all to a building in downtown Vos, and that was the last he saw of any of his siblings. His spark had been deemed 'unique' after he was examined, and he was promptly placed into family of fliers, which he never really fit in with. Always an outsider... He didn't want to be pitied in his adult life, so he made sure to have fun whenever possible and never told anyone about his distant past, not even the one mech he had come to trust, Thundercracker.

His thoughts depressed him, though, so he let his optics flick off. Maybe after some more recharge the throbbing pain he was in would finally stop, and if time permitted he could concoct a good prank to pull in order to cheer himself up.

- - - + - - -

In the main control room Thundercracker stood quietly along side Starscream. Somehow his trineleader had avoided getting himself totally slagged the day before regarding their mission that ended in failure.

Starscream never knew when to quit while ahead, however. "We have to make a show of our true power! Why bother running around trying to avoid the Autobots? I don't see—"

"You don't see, because you are as stupid as any Autobot!" snapped Megatron. He stepped into Starscream's space and pushed his fusion cannon against his cockpit. "Now, stop whining and go retrieve the supplies we will need to build the generator. Or would you prefer to push your luck further and question my authority again?" Megatron's fusion cannon made a high-pitched whir as it charged up.

Starscream held out his hands in defense. "No need for that! Of course we'll get your supplies."

"Good, now get out of my control room!" Megatron yelled.

In a huff, Starscream spun on his heels and strutted out of the control room. Thundercracker followed behind internally shaking his head at his commander's behavior. Why did he feel the need to push the boundaries with the one mech that could so easily kill him? Then again, why hadn't Megatron already offlined Starscream?

"Thundercracker, meet me on the lift in two cycles."

"Yes, sir."

Their paths diverged as Thundercracker veered off toward the commissary to grab some energon before their departure. After getting a warm cube of energon, he decided to head back to his quarters for peace and quiet before having to listen to his commander yelling at him for an entire shift.

Voices spilled out into the hallway ahead of him from the security room. He slowed to a stop just before the doorway, listening in.

"Guess what disgusting thing I saw Laserbeak pick up from his last spy mission," Rumble said.

"What?" Thurst asked.

"Look!"

"Ewwwww!"

Thundercracker took a step forward and glanced into the room. On the monitor Rumble and Thurst stared at a pair of Autobots in a half embrace, kissing.

"That is just disgusting. What a bunch of lame-sparked morons they are." Thrust said as he sat back in his seat.

"Why do they do that?" Rumble asked.

"Eh, 'cause they are weaklings. I bet Autobots still bond, too," Thurst replied.

"Bond?"

"Yeah, merging sparks together. It makes a bond. It's sentimental dribble from Golden times, though. True warriors don't need that kind of slag. True warriors take what they want!" Thurst said as he shoved at Rumble playfully.

"Yeah!" agreed the cassetticon.

Thundercracker broke his gaze into the room and continued down the hallway towards the barracks. 'True warriors.' Did he even qualify as one if that was the criteria? After all, he had started to doubt his place in this never-ending war. If it weren't for his loyalty to the trine and desire to protect Skywarp, he actually doubted he would still be here. Megatron only wanted strong, fierce fighters among his ranks. Thundercracker was one of the very best fliers, excellent in combat even. But his drive to fight well had nothing to do with the simplistic thrill of enjoying the act of fighting itself, like it seemed to be for the soldiers surrounding him. He did for the higher calling of protecting what was precious, his trine. He might hate Starscream at moments, but he had sworn his loyalty to him. And he always fought harder when he was in Skywarp's company thanks to his self-appointed position as his protector.

He shook his head at his own train of thoughts and where they led. "Maybe I need my processor examined," he mumbled to himself as he reached his quarters and slipped inside.

- - - + - - -

At the top of the landing that led to the observation deck, Skywarp poured out hundreds of small ball bearings. He stood up and surveyed the area, then pressed one foot over part of the covered area to test its slip factor. Sure enough, even his uniquely shaped turbine ped slid over the rolling surface. "Perfect!" he said to himself as he retreated down the stairs.

His reattached wing remained quite tender and sensitive, rendering him unable to fly. This meant he was stuck on monitor duty until it was finished healing. Although he despised such a normally boring assignment, he smiled knowing he had just made the task a lot more entertaining. In the monitor room, he settled to sit on a stool and grinned wickedly as he prepared to fall his first victim.

:: Ramjet. ::

:: Yeah? ::

:: You off duty? :: he asked, trying his best to hide the snicker in his voice.

:: Yeah, and slaggin' bored. Why? ::

This was almost too easy. :: Well... I was wondering if you wanted to meet up on the observation deck for a little fun, :: he replied, lowering his voice to a more seductive tone.

:: Oh... what kind did you have in mind? :: replied Ramjet, whose voice also lowered.

Skywarp stifled his laughter and focused to reply. :: The kind of fun that involves us both getting off. ::

:: Be right there, :: Ramjet replied eagerly.

Skywarp laughed out loud as he shifted in his seat to stare at the monitor for the landing. The camera was angled from above, showing the floor covered in ball bearings and the darkened staircase just beyond. In no time, he saw the tips of white wings come into view. Ramjet hurriedly bounded up the stairs, not looking at the ground, and promptly slipped and fell on his aft. He tried to stand up, only to continue slipping and falling. Ball bearings rolled everywhere. Skywarp cackled at the comedic sight, wrapping his arms over his torso as his systems hitched thanks to laughing so hard.

Eventually, Ramjet managed to right himself and went back down the stairs out of sight.

:: You fragger! I'm gonna twist your wings into scrap--::

:: As if you could catch me! :: interrupted Skywarp, still laughing.

After tricking Dirge and Blitzwing into also providing a comedic break from his otherwise boring shift, Skywarp left the security room in a light mood. He made his way to the commissary to grab some energon, still snickering every once in a while as he replayed the images of his comrades landing on their afts. Blitzwing's flailing had been the funniest, since he tried to transform and wound up falling down the stairs in his tank mode in the process.

Skywarp filled his container up at the dispenser and spun around, intending to find a table. Instead, he turned face first into a fist. Energon split across the floor as he fell backward, landing on the ground with a loud clang. He stared up at his attacker, Ramjet. "What the frag?" Skywarp snapped.

"You little glitch! I am gonna rip your wings off and make myself a new _DESK CHAIR!_" the conehead shouted.

Whoops. Ramjet seemed more torqued off than he thought he would be. "Yeesh. Can't take a joke?"

A hand landed on his still repairing wing, and Ramjet wrenched on it hard bending the delicate plating. Skywarp bit back the urge to cry out and kicked Ramjet's legs out from under him. The white jet landed in a pile on the floor, cursing and then lunging back at Skywarp. On the verge of tears from the sheer amount of pain his wing was now in, he opened a warp gate and escaped.

He landed on his berth and howled out in pain in the privacy of his quarters.

"Warp?"

He glanced over at the desk to see Thundercracker staring at him. He only ever cried in pain around his roommate. Unlike everyone else in the ranks, including their trineleader, Thundercracker never made him feel weak for doing so. Coolant pooled on the surface of his optics. "Ramjet bent my injured wing," he said, whining as he spoke.

Thundercracker's expression shifted from concern to looking dubious as he got up from his seat. "I'm _sure_ you didn't provoke him."

Skywarp frowned at the elder. "Even if I did, he didn't have to bend it like that. "

"'_Even if you did'_..." repeated Thundercracker as he wandered over to his cabinet, rifling through it.

Skywarp sunk his posture, his good mood now completely ruined. He watched as his trinemate crossed over to his berth then made a twirling motion with his hand. "Turn," Thundercracker said firmly.

There was a rare trust he put in no one other than Thundercracker, and he complied, turning his back to him. "What are you gonna do?" Skywarp asked, trying to glance over his shoulder.

"Fix it."

The next thing he knew an intense pain ripped through his processor as the mangled appendage was quickly bent back into shape. He let out a loud cry and cursed. Then he felt a cool, almost numbing sensation replace the throbbing pain as well as the delicate sweep of Thundercracker's fingers over his wingtip. As the pain faded away, his mind almost instantly triggered images of what it might be like to have a little wing-play before tossing Thundercracker down to have his way with him. Oh, to see him writhe in pleasure and-

"Better?" asked the elder flier.

"Yeah." Primus, he was pathetic. Secretly lusting after the one mech he knew he could never have and helpless to stop the desire that pulsed through his entire being every time Thundercracker touched him.

"Slag," cursed his trinemate. "I have to go." Thundercracker circled to face Skywarp and placed a small can of ointment in his hands. "If it starts to hurt again, put that on."

"Oh... okay."

Skywarp looked up and offered Thundercracker a small smile, and he in turn shook his head disapprovingly.

"Not that you'll listen to me, but try and stay out of trouble." The blue jet then made his way to the door.

"Where are you going?" Skywarp asked.

Thundercracker paused at the doorway. "Mission with Starscream."

Skywarp's posture sunk again. He would be going, too, if he weren't injured. "Oh."

"It's not a combat mission, just a supply pick-up. See you later." With that, his wingmate slipped out the door.

Skywarp glanced at the container in his hands, knowing this was another in a long line of instances where Thundercracker looked after him in some way. He wondered if he was special to Thundercracker, and he secretly hoped so.

Stretching to lie on his front, he placed the container beside him on the berth. His optics dimmed, and he felt his body's urge to recharge start to take over so it could initiate an auto-repair sequence for the damaged wing. "Come back soon, TC, " he whispered as he slipped offline.

- o - O - o -

_His adoptive father nudged him and his step-sibling through the crowds towards the front._

_"Can you see?" he asked._

_"Yep!" his step-sibling said._

_"No, " Skywarp replied as he tried to stand on his toes. He had his first set of upgrades that included wings and all the proper parts for learning how to fly. His adoptive brother was much older than he was, though, and already on his third upgrade and at least two heads taller._

_Skywarp was lifted into the air and put on his new father's shoulders. He grabbed hold of his dark colored helm turned his attention towards the staging area._

_"Can you see now?" his adoptive father asked._

_"Yeah!" Skywarp looked out across the stage. Three separate trines all stood together in formation. The announcer for the aerial event shouted the names of the first group to perform as they took off into the air. This was a yearly event Skywarp had never witnessed before due to his former parents' neglect. Each graduating class from the local flying academy would show off the top fliers in their newly formed trines, and almost everyone in Vos would come out to see them. He watched in total awe as the first two groups went. _

_When the third and final group took off, he listened intently to the announcer as he called out their names. "Starscream heads up the final group, followed by Thundercracker and Firestorm." Their acrobatics and speed blew the previous one's performances to pieces. The blue jet barrel rolled around the tri-colored one in a long curved motion while the third red jet flew circles around them both. _

_"Whoooaaa..." Skywarp said, his optics wide as he watched._

_"Someday you'll fly like that," his adoptive father said. "They told me that you have a spark like your brother's. One that pulses a little faster. It means you'll have amazing speed and skill, just like them. You just need to practice."_

_"Really?" Skywarp asked. _

_"Yep."_

_Just like them... _

_The idea he had the potential to be as great a flier was exciting. Imagining crowds of onlookers impressed by his talent instead of his current reality of strangers pitying him because of his birth parents. He wanted to forget about the sensation of an empty fuel tank, leave that part of his life as far behind as possible. _

_Glancing down, he stared at his step-brother, who looked just like his adoptive father. He would never fit in with them, no matter how much they insisted he was part of their family. Lifting his gaze back up towards the stage he stared at the elegant seekers arranged in their trines after their performances. The tri-colored one waved at the onlookers as his trinemates stood at attention behind him. Skyarp grinned, deciding in that moment nothing would stop him from being _just like them_._

* * *

A/N- This is a three part story, with a follow up also in the works. The next part will be posted soon. I don't like asking for reviews, but it's helpful to get feedback. So if you like it, please tell me why, and if you have helpful things to also say please do. Thank you!!_  
_


	2. Chapter 2: Same Page

Title: Miles Adrift, Inches Away...: Same Page

Author: pl2363

Series: Transformers AU/G1

Rating: M

Warnings: Wing-play, Interfacing (Oral), A smashed up Air Commander (unrelated)

Notes: Thundercracker x Skywarp. Each harbors pent up desire for other, but due to never being upfront with one another, they remain apart. Thanks to Mirage Shinkiro for the beta!

_Also inspired in part by Anon Decepticon's seeker fics, as posted on her Livejournal._

Title borrowed and edited from the song 'Broken' by the Unkle:

"_Strung out with wings of the dawn  
__Hole in the black soul in the storm__  
Torn down through the cracks in the dark  
We're miles adrift we're inches apart"_

Also... Transformers belong to Hasbro, I am just playing with them.

The POV switches between Thundercracker and Skywarp:

* * *

Starscream tapped his foot in irritation. He and Thundercracker had made a successful supply run and were returning to the depths of the Nemesis on the lift.

"How's Skywarp's wing?" asked his trine leader suddenly breaking the stale silence.

"Still injured." Thundercracker let his optics roam over Starscream's frame. Small dents covered his torso.

"What are you staring at?" snapped the irritable jet.

"What's with the dents?" Thundercracker acted casual.

Starscream glanced over his frame, then frowned. "Oh, those are...nothing." He crossed his arms over his chest again and stared at the docking door, impatiently waiting for their long ride down to finally end.

"_Nothing_..." Thundercracker murmured, with a sour frown.

The next thing he knew, Starscream swooped over to where he stood, invading his personal space. Leaning into him, the flamboyant jet stared him down with narrowed optics. "You have certainly slipped in your loyalty over the vorns! How dare you mock me!"

Thundercracker _had_ lost his true loyalty somewhere along the way. There was no denying it. His patience worn to a razor thin edge, and he did sometimes cross the line. At the moment, he was tired from flying such a long distance hauling a heavy piece of equipment for some inane plan that Starscream wouldn't shut his trap about. _'This part of Megatron's plan is flawed... and this will never work...' _was all he heard for several Earth hours, and he was fed up. "I guess I haven't been the best little soldier since arriving on this dirtball."

Starscream regarded him for a long moment, his optics dimming as they narrowed further. "You know, Thundercracker, your mood has been... rather foul for quite a while now. I can't help but think you need to get your systems _realigned._" Starscream's voice rumbled faintly.

He narrowed his optics back. The implication that he hadn't interfaced in a long time all too clear in the carefully chosen words. "Why, you want to do it?"

Starscream leaned back and let out a laugh. "I have better things to do than that," he said in a haughty voice. "Besides, I heard over the comm. lines that our third member was torturing innocent morons earlier. Maybe you can fix that _alignment_ issue and preoccupy Skywarp all at once."

A swell of anger rose within Thundercracker's chest. He would never in a million stellar cycles simply use Skywarp to get himself off. "Maybe you're the one that needs the _alignment_," he said in a sharp, biting tone.

The lift came to a stop and the doors whooshed open. Starscream strutted out into the hallway, paused, and looked back at Thundercracker. "Megatron is the only one worthy of striping my gears. I suggest you find someone to help you do the same."

He fumed as he watched Starscream walk away. He wanted to yell after him, but the mental image of Starscream and Megatron interfacing made him stiffen with a combination of disgust and arousal. _Fraggit! I hate when he's right. It's been too long,_ he thought.

His wings sagged against his back as he wandered quietly down the hall. The truth was he actually thought at one point that he and Skywarp might end up interfacing. But the younger had never once made a move on him. Thundercracker wondered it had been their age gap that kept Skywarp from seeing him that way. All that aside, he wasn't the type to make overtures, anyway; he preferred getting them. Problem being, no one had offered in what seemed like eons.

Tired and irritable, he made his way to the wash racks for a long hot soak. Maybe he could ease some of the built up tension in his frame that way... too bad he couldn't soak his processor while he was at it.

- - - + - - -

Hands swept down over each of Skywarp's wings. He moaned softly as they quivered in response. A mouth then went gliding over the sensitive metal, leaving a warm tingling sensation in its wake. Dirge then roughly flipped Skywarp to his back on the berth. He frowned up at the other flier. "You trying to dent me?" Skywarp snapped.

"Hey, you owe me after that fragging prank. Besides, don't you want me to convince Ramjet to stop coming after you?" Dirge asked.

Skywarp huffed air through his intakes to show his irritation. "Just don't dent my injured wing, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Dirge ran his hands down Skywarp's cockpit and torso. The lustful look in his optics was an instant turn off.

He had to do something to stop the white jet's vendetta of revenge via pounding him into slag, though. The coneheads all stuck together just like he and his trine did. This seemed like the simplest solution to get them all off his back and get off in the process. He rolled his stiff shoulders against the berth. Primus, he was tense from not being able to fly.

He usually chose Dirge for a berth partner when he felt like this, the reason being his blue paint. So long as he didn't look the fragger in the face he could fantasize it was his lovely trinemate instead…

Skywarp tried to focus on the dark hands that moved over his paneling, roughly massaging. At his interface panel Dirge fumbled to pry the cover open. He flicked his optics off, no longer able to watch the other jet's jerky movements. Although he needed to release his pent up energy from being temporarily grounded, Dirge's impatience and lack of foreplay was making this feel like a chore.

He eventually got the panel open and a finger pressed into his port with a jabbing motion, which actually hurt. Skywarp gritted his dental plates. "It's not a socket in the wall," he said, grinding his words out between clenched dentia.

"Consider it payback for the dents from your stupid aft prank," replied Dirge, jabbing in again.

Skywarp lit his optics and gave Dirge a dirty look. It seemed that he was still torqued off, too. Did no one around the base have a sense of humor? A simple yet devious plan suddenly formed in his mind as he watched Dirge pull out his jack, getting ready to push in before his port was even ready for it. The dark blue flyer plunged his jack in, making a soft satisfied grunt as he did. "Ahhh... Skywarp..." he moaned softly.

With a deep frown on his face Skywarp narrowed his optics at the other. "Good, right?"

Dirge looked up, confused by the question. "Huh?"

"Next time, try some foreplay, you fragging aft." Skywarp initiated a warp gate and disappeared.

- - - + - - -

After a long hot soak in the wash racks, Thundercracker returned to his quarters. He lay on his berth still feeling tense and somewhat irritable. Starscream's words had needled their way deep into his mind, like small pointy metal burrs that itched and irritated the area around it. When he was younger others had always approached him for quick interfaces. What had changed? He held up his arms and examined the plating, scrutinizing it. Had his color dulled with age? Maybe he wasn't as glossy as before? Checking the look of his plating against his memory files from his younger days didn't show any differences, though. What had changed, then?

A blur of black and purple appeared from thin air on the opposing berth. He looked over to see Skywarp sitting up and clicking his interface panel shut, which caused a small spike of heat to ripple through Thundercracker's frame as he quickly averted his gaze.

"Oh... hey," said Skywarp.

"Hey," he replied.

"How was your mission?"

"Long, annoying." Thundercracker glanced back over at his trinemate. "So...what do you have against doors?"

"Funny," Skywarp replied dryly. "Those fragging idiots can't take a joke."

Thundercracker didn't immediately reply. He really wasn't sure he wanted to know what Skywarp had done, and the fact this was the second time he appeared back at the room apparently fleeing his latest victims worried him a little. Sometimes Skywarp underestimated other decepticons and their overly warped sense of revenge. "Well, I suppose it's a good thing your wings seem intact."

"Yeah." Skywarp lowered his gaze to the berth as he fingered it. "I hate not being able to fly. I feel so...restless."

Having been in Skywarp's place before, he understood that sentiment all too well but really couldn't offer much advice. "You'll just have to wait another day or two."

Skywarp didn't look at him or even reply. He kept staring at his berth with dimmed optics. Black wings that normally sat high and proud on Skywarp's back were drooping instead.

Thundercracker decided there might be another way to distract his distraught trinemate. He heaved himself up and pushed to his feet, crossing over to his personal cabinet. After shifting items around, he found his small stash of high-grade energon. He grabbed two small cubes, then walked over to Skywarp and offered him one.

"Thanks," replied Skywarp as he eagerly took the cube, his sullen expression lifting a little.

For a moment, Thundercracker considered returning to his own berth, but something compelled him to sit beside Skywarp. As he settled in, he took a long sip of the high-grade, letting it trickle down his intake, leaving a warmed, not-quite burning sensation behind as it moved into his fuel tank. It took less than a kilk to kick his core temperature up a degree or two as his systems worked harder to break down the complex nature of the highly concentrated energon.

"Good stuff," Skywarp said.

Thundercracker looked over and smiled at him, pleased his roommate liked it.

In silence they each finished the small, yet potent, cubes of high-grade. Thundercracker dispersed the empty container then shifted to lean back against the cool wall and let his frame relax. Finally, all the tension that earlier seemed to be creeping through every system and piece of paneling on his body dissipated. He stared blankly across the room, happy to let his processor swim in a wonderful haze. It was so rare to get a break from his relentless thoughts; he wanted to fully enjoy the temporary escape.

A tingling sensation radiated over the lower part of one of his wings, interrupting his quiet foggy state, and he shifted his gaze to see why. Skywarp sat in silence lightly touching his wing in hesitant but curious strokes over the paneling. He flexed the struts that controlled that wing, pushing it against the purple hand.

"Oh!" Skywarp pulled back his hand, tucking it under the opposing arm. He offered a sheepish smile to Thundercracker. "I... didn't mean to..."

"Looked like you meant it to me." Maybe it was the high-grade or maybe it was Starscream's words from earlier, Thundercracker wasn't sure. All he knew was at that moment he desperately wanted to see Skywarp writhing under him, and he would take that somewhat innocent touch to mean more, whether it did or not. He leaned forward and reached out to trace the edge of Skywarp's wing slowly. The wing trembled at his touch. Encouraged, he moved closer still and pressed his lips the smooth surface of the wing, letting them ghost over the trembling appendage while he also ran his fingers over its edges.

"TC..." Skywarp said in a hushed voice.

"Hrrrmmm?" he replied, directing the rumbled vibration of his reply into the wing. His action elicited a squeaked moan from Skywarp, who then placed his hands on Thundercracker's wing to reciprocate. The touches of the younger's hands weren't rough at all, but soft and affectionate as they made circular motions over the flat plane of sensitive dermal plating. He pressed his forehead against Skywarp's black wing and dimmed his optics, giving in completely to the pleasurable attention with low moans of approval.

Casting a sideways glance, his optics met with Skywarp's.

"You're so fraggin' hot, TC."

He chuckled at the assessment, then renewed his efforts by stroking and mouthing the warm smooth surface of Skywarp's wing. For several long, wonderful kliks they each engaged in the best wing-play Thundercracker ever experienced. His entire frame warmed from both high-grade and the firm but gentle attention to the sensitive appendage.

A small charge started to build within all his systems. He felt ready to move onto something more, so he reached out and grabbed hold of Skywarp's waist, pulling him so their chests met. At first he felt a warm wave of heat rolling off the younger flier, then he felt the electrical charge of Skywarp's energy field cautiously pressing against his own. He flared and rippled his energy field against younger's, to which Skywarp made a quiet keening sound of approval.

Their optics locked on one another again.

"TC...?"

Something in the way Skywarp spoke his name as if it were a question made him uneasy. He leaned forward and pressed his mouth to neck cables, wrapping his lips around one and lightly sucking in hopes of distracting him. "Hmmm?"

Skywarp answered with a moan.

He felt fingers start to make questing motions over his chest and cockpit. As much as part of him wanted to push the younger to lie back so he could have his way with him, he found their slow attentive foreplay more of a turn on than he anticipated. _Maybe I am old_... Old enough to now know there was no need to rush, that moments like this were to be savored.

One of his hands drifted down the slope of Skywarp's cockpit, ending at the interface panel. He felt the frame in his grip stiffen, and he paused. Pulling back from suckling neck cables, he looked Skywarp square in the optics. "You ...don't want to?"

Skywarp's lips curled into his usual mischievous smile. "Oh, I _want_ to... I've wanted to for _so long_." He could hear a slight slur to Skywarp's speech pattern.

Thundercracker kept his optics pinned on Skywarp as he massaged the panel cover, then carefully clicked it open. The jack almost immediately pushed forward, and he wrapped his fingers around it and started to massage its length. Those piercing crimson optics flickered as Skywarp whimpered.

"You like that?" Thundercracker asked.

The younger nodded, then reached for Thundercracker's interface panel, opening it and pulling the already hot jack into his hand, holding it against his inner palm and rolling the end against it. Thundercracker grunted and shuddered at the intense sensation that the motion produced.

"I've been dreaming up things I want to do to you," Skywarp said as he leaned forward to mouth the glassy part of Thundercracker's cockpit.

"Have you now?" he asked, his voice rumbling with desire.

Skywarp nodded emphatically while still licking the glass.

A loud ping came across Thundercracker's internal commlink. He sat back slightly, but Skywarp wasn't going to be deterred. His mouth moved lower as he bent down scooting his lower body back, which broke Thundercracker's grip on the younger's jack.

Then the ping repeated. He felt torn. Respond to the call, or let Skywarp –

"Aahhh...." he moaned and lolled his head back as the silky warmth of Skywarp's mouth enveloped his jack completely. It felt amazing. The younger's glossa flicked against his jack's length, setting off sensitive nodes, which sent a deep wave of pleasure crashing through his whole being.

The ping he was trying to ignore repeated.

:: WHAT? :: he finally answered, but not aloud.

:: That's no way to greet me. :: Came the weak reply of his Air Commander.

He looked down at Skywarp, who had started sucking on his jack with earnest. It felt so incredible. His body started to tremble slightly.

:: What is it? :: he quickly asked.

:: I need you to take me to medbay. :: The signal from the commlink suddenly filled with static.

:: Bad enough you can't walk? ::

:: Would I have commed you otherwise? :: Starscream asked with a distinct sneer in his voice.

:: Send a location ping. I'll be there in a klik. :: He cut the transmission out and slumped his posture as he gently nudged Skywarp.

The younger flier looked up at him, confusion playing across his face. "Did I do something wrong?" His fingers lingered against his jack stroking it lightly.

Thundercracker shuddered faintly. "Primus, no...I have to go get Starscream."

Skywarp looked at him, clearly bewildered. "_You want to frag Starscream?_"

Thundercracker laughed a little. "No! Not at all. That slagging aft has the worst timing, though."

"So wait..." Skywarp's brow furrowed, and he could literally see him struggling to figure out what was going on.

"He pinged me. I responded. Now he wants me to drag his sorry aft to medbay. He slagged off Megatron again, I'm sure." Thundercracker gently urged Skywarp to sit back up, which he did. Then he closed his interface array panel with a sigh of air from his intakes, denoting his regret, and started to get off the berth.

Skywarp grabbed hold of his arm, hugging it to his chest. "I'll go with you." His trinemate looked quite determined to not let go.

"You're drunk," Thundercracker replied with a little laugh.

"So are you!" Skywarp frowned.

Thundercracker couldn't resist the adorable pout on Skywarp's face and relented. "Fine, let's go."

- - - + - - -

Normally, Skywarp wouldn't have invited himself along on an errand he wasn't pinged for. However, he knew if he had been left alone in the room he would end up self-servicing and finishing up without Thundercracker, and he really preferred to have it end like he had fantasized. Especially since he wasn't too sure his trinemate would give him a sober shot later.

The hallways seemed extra twisty and confusing as he followed behind Thundercracker, who seemed on the surface totally unaffected by the high-grade. They got onto a small elevator and he pressed the code for the top level, Megatron's quarters. Skywarp tensed, wondering why Starscream would be at their leader's quarters.

He glanced over at Thundercracker who looked pretty torqued off. His handsome face etched with a deep frown as he stared at the elevator doors with a laser-like intensity. _Even mad he's slagging hot,_ thought Skywarp.

The doors whooshed open, and he followed his trinemate out into the foyer. The doors to Megatron's quarters were closed, and crumpled in a pile against the wall just beside the elaborate doorway lay Starscream.

"Holy sla—"

Thundercracker smashed his hand over Skywarp's mouth, silencing him. He looked up to see his trinemate mouth 'Be quiet', to which he nodded and was released.

They both walked over to the damaged Air Commander, but it was Thundercracker who scooped Starscream's limp form into his arms. Not really able to help, Skywarp headed back onto the elevator, stumbling over his own feet on the way. He leaned against the side wall of the small space and was soon joined by the others. He glanced over at Starscream, whose optics were dimly lit. Dents covered the commander's whole frame, long deep scratches marred one wing, and his left leg looked like it was hanging on by a single unsnapped cable at the knee joint.

The door to the elevator shut, but it didn't move.

"Warp... medbay level?" Thundercracker said.

Skywarp stared blankly at him, trying to think past the haze of high-grade as well as the shock of seeing Starscream in such disastrous state.

"Press the button, you slagging moron," Starscream said, his voice crackling with static.

"Oh! Right." Skywarp pressed the code for the medbay level and the elevator started its descent.

Unable to control himself, Skywarp glanced back over at his wounded trineleader. What had Starscream done to get himself so slagged up? Moreover, why was he in Megatron's quarters anyway?

"Stop staring at me you worthless slagg—Oww!" Starscream glared up at Thundercracker.

"Elevator shifted," the blue jet said with a small smile on his face.

"Like slag it did!" Their trineleader's optics narrowed. "What smells like stale energon?" Starscream leaned his face close Thundercracker's chest, then he jerked his head back. "Are _you drunk!?_" Starscream's voice both screeched and crackled with static. He then looked back at Skywarp leaning against the elevator wall, his dim optics focusing on him. "You're _both_ drunk, aren't you?"

"And you're a pile of slag that interrupted a good time," snapped Thundercracker.

Skywarp bit back a laugh. Thundercracker _must be_ pretty drunk to speak his mind so bluntly.

"You two are both idiots," Starscream said as he faintly pouted.

Skywarp had wondered on occasion if their holier-than-thou trineleader might be a little jealous of the close relationship he and Thundercracker shared. Over time, their close knit friendship had also created a unique trust between them that did not extend to Starscream. Trusting anyone had always felt like a risky business to Skywarp, but that was due to early life lessons that showed him most everyone would end up betraying him one way or another. Everyone but Thundercracker ... His spark quivered a little in chest in response to that thought, and he shifted his gaze to the blue jet beside him. The odd sensation grew a little stronger, and he placed a hand over his cockpit, rubbing at the glass.

The elevator suddenly came to stop, ending his somewhat inebriated train of thought, and they all exited toward medbay.

After leaving Starscream in Scrapper's 'caring' hands, he and Thundercracker wandered back out into the hallway. Skywarp was barely able to keep on his feet now, as the high-grade finally broke down completely in his fuel tank and went careening though his systems, leaving a hazy sensation behind that fuzzed out his ability to control things like equilibrium. He leaned against the wall and started to laugh, although he wasn't sure why.

Thundercracker's face hovered into view. "Are you okay?"

"I don't think I can walk all the way back," he admitted.

Thundercracker chuckled a little. "You really can't handle high-grade, can you?"

He actually could handle high-grade to a point under normal circumstances, but he knew by the odd aftertaste that Thundercracker had given him vintage stuff. "Normal high-grade I can handle! You gave me some ancient slaggin' stuff." Skywarp could hear his words slurring.

Thundercracker suddenly looked annoyed. "You saying _I'm old?_"

Skywarp glanced up at him and grinned. "No, just your high-grade." He stared into Thundercracker's scarlet optics. They were mesmerizing to look at, even if he seemed angry about the implication regarding his age. "You're slagging hot, TC."

"You said that earlier," Thundercracker replied, still frowning at him.

"Did I? Guess I needed to repeat it." He started laughing again and pushed away from the wall to lean up against his trinemate, who fortunately caught him in his strong arms. Snaking his own arms around Thundercracker's waist, he gazed up at his handsome face, whose expression finally softened a little. "Let's go back to the room. I want to lick your wings and-" Without warning, Skywarp opened a warp gate and pulled them both through it. "-make you overload so hard..."

Thundercracker, having never been teleported before, toppled backwards from the abrupt trip, apparently disoriented. Skywarp fell with him, still trapped in his hold, and they landed on the floor with a resounding crash.

"Y-you...just teleported me," Thundercracker said, lifting his head slightly to look at him with shock written across his face.

"Yeah." Skywarp rested his chin on his wingmate's golden cockpit and lazily smiled at him.

Thundercracker paused. "I-I thought you could only teleport yourself."

Skywarp smiled broadly. "I can teleport myself and anything similar in size."

"I didn't know that." Thundercracker reached out to lay a hand on Skywarp's helm.

"Not like either of you ever asked," replied Skywarp. "But I would _never_ teleport Screamer… _only you_."

His trinemate's beautiful scarlet optics flared, then dimmed. Skywarp rested the side of his face against Thundercracker's chest. "I need to recharge off the high-grade," Skywarp mumbled, only half aware he was speaking out loud. "Then I'll show you...just how much..." The world around him blanked out to black.

- o - O - o -

_The tension was palpable. Skywarp's optics darted back and forth between his new trinemates, who were pointedly not speaking. They were standing on a platform, alongside a huge group of warriors, waiting for the final orders of their illustrious leader, Megaton. Starscream clawed his way up through the Decepticon army, dragging Thundercracker and Skywarp with him. Thundercracker had objected and wanted as little to do with this war as possible. No matter how much the blue jet resisted, it was useless. Even Skywarp could see how power hungry Starscream was, and this particular mission was an opportunity to prove they were in fact the best fliers Megatron had._

_Their objective: to take the Autobot stronghold Iacon down. Their group, along with several other trines and other larger fliers, would be frontliners sent out to distract the city's Cybertronian Guardian long enough for the heavy hitters to move in on the ground._

_They took off into the air, transforming into their terrajet modes and streaked across the sky. Having never been in a battle before, only simulated ones on computer holodecks, Skywarp felt undeniably nervous. He hid it as best he could by making jokes about their targeted enemy. His trinemates remained silent over their private comm-frequency, though. Undoubtedly still not willing to talk, even now._

_Being a part of their group had not been what he imagined. Starscream was irritating and abrasive, and Thundercracker was calm and collected by contrast. Despite Thundercracker's current disagreement with their commander, he still always did as Starscream asked. Both were incredibly talented fliers, fast and agile. In his short time with them, Skywarp's skills had already sharpened considerably._

_In the distance Iacon came into view, and the one Guardian they were suppose to take on turned out to be three._

_:: Ah, I thought he said there'd be one of those giant things! Not Three! :: Skywarp said, trying to hide the fear he felt creeping through his fuel lines._

_:: All the better to prove how great we are! :: Starscream replied._

_Thundercracker remained silent. _

_In unison, they curved around the backside of the Guardian on the right, laser fire pouring from each one at the monster-sized Cybertronian. Over the general comm. line he heard the frightened cries of fliers and transmissions cutting out. Distracted by the sudden wave of realization that this was in fact very real, Skywarp's tight formation with his trinemates fell out of synch. His turn going much wider than he intended. _

_:: Skywarp! Fall in!:: shouted Starscream._

_He tried to correct for his error, but then turned too sharply. A clawed servo from the huge Guardian swung in the air, and he narrowly missed it, breaking formation completely in his panic to avoid being crushed to death. Fear pumped through his body as his flight path dipped low to the ground. Underneath him there were already several terminated bodies of mechs he had just been standing with a couple of breems earlier. _

_:: Skywarp. Pull up. :: Thundercracker's voice was like a beacon, bringing Skywarp back from the edges of a mental breakdown. How could be so calm at a time like this? He pulled up as directed, though, and his trinemates came into view. He kicked on his thrusters to catch up to them. _

_Just as he almost rejoined them, a laser blast, seemingly as large as his entire body, clipped the back of his right wing, and he careened out of control. Desperately, he tried to right himself, but he twirled like a thin metal shaving caught in a high wind and saw the ground coming up fast. He had crashed before, when he was younger and learning how to fly, so he decided to do what he used to, which was transform and ball up in his robot form in an attempt to land in a way that protected his wings... That wasn't enough, though. The impact of hitting the ground felt like nothing comparable in his memory file. Pain flared over his whole frame, then stopped just as quickly as it had started. He felt nothing below his neck. Nothing at all. _

_He lay on his back, completely still, staring up at the giant Guardians above him. Warnings flashed over his processor, which he ignored. Not like he could do anything about them, anyway. He wondered briefly if a Guardian might step on his head and end his life, or if he'd simply languish there until his fuel lines ran dry and systems seized up long after the battle was over._

_:: Skywarp! Location ping, now! :: Thundercracker's normally calm voice was edged with worry. _

_:: Can't. Systems unresponsive, :: he replied._

_:: Visual. Tell me where you are, :: Thundercracker said._

_:: Megatron called for a retreat. Give it up Thundercracker, we'll get slagged before he's found, :: Starscream said._

_Skywarp felt a swell of sadness roll through him. Unwanted by his creators, never fit in with in his adoptive family, and now abandoned by his trine. _

_:: I am NOT leaving him behind! :: snapped Thundercracker. ::Visual! Tell me where you are! ::_

_Surprised by Thundercracker's words, he was silent, too shocked to speak. _

_:: Visual! NOW! ::_

_:: Ah...:: Skywarp snapped his attention back to the scene above him. :: Red Guardian, two yellow jets retreating, a black cargo shuttle--::_

_:: I've got a visual on you. :: _

_Skywarp's optics searched the sky above, and sure enough Thundercracker came swooping down, and transformed to land beside him._

"_TC..."_

_Without a word, his trinemate picked him up and held him close to his chest. Thundercracker took off, flying low and headed away from the scene of the battle. _

_Skywarp gazed up at his wingmate. For the first time in his miserable life, he mattered to someone. "You came for me." _

"_Of course," Thundercracker replied in his calm matter-of-fact tone. "You're my trinemate."_

_Starscream didn't come to find him, though. It was Thundercracker that refused to leave him behind. Skywarp secretly held out hope that he had finally found someone he might be able to trust...__Someone that he would matter to if he died._

_ His systems suddenly hitched, and he felt his vision narrowing. As hard as he tried to stay online, he felt himself slipping into the undertow of a complete systems shutdown._

"_It's okay, Warp. Go offline," said Thundercraker. _

_Skywarp felt a goofy smile cross his lips at the impromptu nickname just before his systems shut down. _He gave me a nickname! _was his last happy thought before he succumbed completely. _

* * *

A/N- This is a three part story, with a follow up also in the works. The next part will be posted soon. I don't like asking for reviews, but it's helpful to get feedback. So if you like it, please tell me why, and if you have helpful things to also say please do. Thank you!!_  
_


	3. Chapter 3: Come Together

Title: Miles Adrift, Inches Away...: Come Together

Author: pl2363

Series: Transformers AU/G1

Rating: M

Warnings: A little violence, Interfacing (including robot frot?), Sparkbonding

Notes: Thundercracker x Skywarp. Each harbors pent up desire for other, but due to never being upfront with one another, they remain apart. Thanks to Mirage Shinkiro for the beta!

_Also inspired in part by Anon Decepticon's seeker fics, as posted on her Livejournal._

Title borrowed and edited from the song 'Broken' by the Unkle:

"_Strung out with wings of the dawn  
__Hole in the black soul in the storm__  
Torn down through the cracks in the dark  
We're miles adrift we're inches apart"_

Also... Transformers belong to Hasbro, I am just playing with them.

The POV switches between Thundercracker and Skywarp:

* * *

_Only you._

Those words were repeating in an endless loop in Thundercracker's processor. He tapped his fingers against the console he sat at, staring at but not seeing the monitors before him. His punishment for insubordination the evening before: forced temporary grounding and being placed on monitor duty. Starscream was livid when he got out of medbay, taking out his own problems on Thundercracker. Although he was fully aware he had crossed the line and said things he shouldn't have, he had also been stupendously drunk. Who would hold someone's inebriated words against them, anyway?

_Only you._

He felt a pang in his spark, a strange sensation he didn't understand. Skywarp had been totally trashed. His words...meant nothing, right? If they didn't mean anything, then why was his spark quivering when he replayed that grainy piece of memory file? Skywarp's handsome pale face with lips drawn into an easy-going smile as he so casually said out loud something Thundercracker knew he also felt, but would never admit to.

He shook his head trying to stop the thoughts from coming. A familiar pain started to creep up his neck cables again. His shift only half over, he couldn't afford to get a processor-ache now. He glanced at the series of screens in front of him, trying to focus on something other than his internal struggles with long suppressed emotions.

On one screen, Soundwave wandered down the barracks hallway with all his cassetticons following after him. On another, Megatron in the control room, staring up at the main screen flickering various schematics for an unknown project. On yet another screen, Ramjet and Dirge beating the slag out of someone in the commissary. Thundercracker sat forward, his optics trying to focus on the blurred mech in their grip:

_Skywarp._

Why wasn't he warping out of the area? Every inch of Thundercracker's frame tensed for several drawn out seconds as he waited to see Skywarp disappear, but he didn't. His desire to protect the one thing in this war that still meant something to him took over. He shot out of his chair and abandoned the monitor room heading down the series of short hallways to the commissary. Bursting into the area, he crossed over to the brawl and pushed aside the onlookers in his way.

Anger flared deep within his spark as well as his body at the sight of Skywarp's dented frame being continually kicked by his attackers. Without any thought at all, Thundercracker stepped forward and grabbed firm hold of Dirge's shoulders. The dark blue jet turned to look at him, confusion playing across his face. Before the conehead could formulate words, Thundercracker pulled him off his trinemate and tossed him with all his unrestrained strength, rather effortlessly, several meters away. His gaze then shifted to Ramjet, who froze, staring back at him slack-jawed.

"Get your hands of Skywarp, _now_," said Thundercracker, his voice booming with his barely restrained anger.

Ramjet furrowed his brow, then twisted a section of wing he held tightly with one hand. Skywarp jerked from the pain but didn't make a sound. Thundercracker kept his optics pinned on the white jet and stepped closer. This was the second time this aft bent one of Skywarp's wings. What kind of sick flier would find pleasure in destroying the most sacredly held part of any airborne mech's body?

"One step closer and I'll--" Ramjet didn't have a chance to finish. Thundercracker's fist flew through the air as he closed the gap with one large step. The sound of metal meeting metal made a satisfying crunch that echoed in the room as his fist made contact with Ramjet's jaw. The white conehead flew backwards from the force of the blow and crashed into a table before sliding onto the floor. Thundercracker took up a defensive posture while standing over Skywarp's beaten form.

"What the frag is going on in here!?" Starscream screeched from the doorway.

The gathered crowd dispersed, fleeing the commissary. Starscream strutted over, with a slight limp he was attempting to hide, and cast a suspicious glance at Dirge then at Ramjet. Eventually his gaze settled on Thundercracker. Their optics locked in silent staring contest.

"Your psycho seeker just beat the frag out of us for no good reason!" Dirge yelled as he tried to get to his feet.

"Oooh, I think there was a _very good_ reason," replied Starscream with small devious-looking smile, his optics still trained on Thundercracker.

Thundercracker felt Skywarp's hand on his lower leg. Fingers flexed against him in a strangely tender touch.

Finally, Starscream broke off their locked gaze. "Dirge, kindly gather your wingmate and get yourselves down to medbay."

The dark blue flier grunted in annoyance, but complied and helped the white jet stagger out of the commissary. Starscream watched them until they turned out of sight, then he twisted back around to stare at Thundercracker, again. "I believe you were on monitor duty."

"I was." Thundercracker allowed his shoulders to sink down, letting his defensive posture deflate, although he didn't move away from Skywarp.

"And you are here...because?" Starscream crossed his arms over his chest as he raised a judgmental optic ridge.

"It's my fault!" blurted Skywarp.

They both quickly looked down at their damaged wingmate.

"I find your trinemate's disregarding of my direct orders a mistake that is all his own. That said, I _do_ find it odd, my dear little Skywarp, that you didn't teleport out of here," Starscream said in a condescending tone.

"Ramjet stuck something on my back." Skywarp sat forward and turned at his waist. Sure enough a small round device was attached to the back of his shoulder. "I don't know what it is, but I couldn't teleport."

Starscream started to walk closer, but Thundercracker tensed his posture again, which caused the flamboyant painted jet to stop in his tracks.

"I'll get it," Thundercracker said as he leaned down to dislodge the device, which upon a quick inspection looked like a modified cerebral shell.

"I don't know what you did to torque them off Skywarp, and honestly I don't even care. You can drag your aft down to medbay once they are released. And as for you," Starscream turned his optics on Thundercracker and narrowed them. "I suggest you return to your assigned duty."

Skywarp's hand gently squeezed Thundercracker's leg. A show of solidarity, perhaps? Or maybe a show of affection?

"Dimissed!" Starscream hissed as waved his arm in the air.

- - - + - - -

"Hand me that pair of tweezers," ordered Starscream. His trineleader sat with his face glued to a powerful microscope and extended his hand expectantly. Thundercracker picked up the tool and handed it off.

As if it weren't bad enough Starscream had punished Thundercracker with monitor duty, he now had him standing in his small private laboratory handing him tools like a personal slave. He kept his mouth sealed shut, though. Obviously his recent behavior had angered Starscream more than he thought, and the only way to appease him would be to reaffirm his loyalty. Sadly, that meant standing around like a service droid handing the self-centered glitch tools.

Starscream finally sat back in his seat, frowning. "It failed." Thundercracker didn't know exactly what the microscopic experiment Starscream was running entailed, but he did know that his commander had over the vorns tried different ways of making a renewable source of energon.

Eventually Starscream turned his gaze to Thundercracker. "You can go."

Relieved, Thundercracker made for the door.

"Thundercracker."

He stopped in his tracks and glanced over at his shoulder at Starscream. "Yeah?"

"Do you know why I chose Skywarp?" Starscream looked unusually serious as he spoke.

Thundercracker turned to halfway face him. "He was the fastest flier, and he could teleport."

"No," said Starscream, a smug smile crossing his lips.

"Then why?" asked Thundercracker.

"Because of the way you two looked at one another."

A thick silence fell for what felt like a never-ending klik. What could he say to that?

Canting his head to one side, Starscream's lips curled into a wicked looking smile. "A trine works best when the members are willing to fly, fight and die together. I will not fly, fight or die for anyone but _myself. _That meant I needed two that would support me. But, equally as important, two that would grow close and be willing to sacrifice themselves for one another. Sadly, Firestorm died before you and he could reach that point. Your loyalty to me didn't waver, even after his passing, though." Starscream stood up and wandered over to Thundercracker. He struck a haughty pose as he placed his hands on his hips. "The reward for your loyalty was getting the flier of your choice. The look on your face when you saw Skywarp, as well as his reaction to you, sealed my decision."

"Why are you telling me all this _now?_" asked Thundercracker, feeling both angry at Starscream's incredible arrogance as well a little confused.

Starscream frowned at him. "_Loyalty_, Thundercracker. I'm not sure what has had your circuits in a twist lately, but I am telling you now, straighten it out. I love to fly just as much as you do and, trust me, grounding you brings me no pleasure. Stop acting like a rebellious youngling, figure out what you want, and take it for Pit's sake!"

Thundercracker stared at Starscream for a long drawn out klik. Take what he wanted? What did he want? What was Starscream babbling about? He realized that at least for the moment, he really wanted to leave. "Yes, sir."

Faintly shaking his head, Starscream waved a hand in the air as he returned to his seat at the workbench. "Go."

- - - + - - -

_Circuits in a twist, I'll twist his circuits. _Thundercracker imagined how good it might feel to punch that little glitch of a commander in the mouth. It had felt pretty good to punch Ramjet. Almost better than pounding the slag out of an Autobot, actually.

What had he been babbling about, anyway? Why did he tell him about supposedly picking Skywarp for him? Skywarp... that touch to his leg, that was a strange new behavior. A shiver ran down his backstrut as he remembered how it felt.

He reached his quarters, entered his code, and proceeded inside. The space was sadly empty. He had hoped Skywarp would be there, but quickly remembered he probably went to medbay. A new wave of anger pushed through him at the image of that mentally defected conehead bending his trinemate's delicate wing with such malice. He walked over to his berth and sat down in an angry huff.

Flicking off his optics, he tried to calm himself. He used to be so calm, so in control. What had changed? He re-lit his optics, realizing he had that thought yesterday, too. Something was different... out of place. Normally he would simply brood silently about things that bothered him, then move on and let them go. Something _had_ changed, but he couldn't quite place what it could be. A painful sensation of heat and tension suddenly flared along the back of his neck cables. Thinking too long and hard about everything had re-initiated his near processor-ache from earlier. There would be no avoiding it this time, though. It came on too fast to fight off, and his whole helm suddenly raged with unrepentant pain.

Wincing, he slid to lie on his side on the berth, pushing his wings behind him. He wrapped his arms around his head and trembled a little from the rush of pain. He finally turned off his optics and willed himself to escape into a recharge.

- o – O – o -

_His fathers were yelling, again. _

"_How could you have spent all the credits I put in that account already?"_

"_I had to! Somehow you seem to think I can run this household on the meager amount you dole out to me, and I can't! Thundercracker needed his upgrade!"_

_One father walked to the other side of the large entry way of their even larger home. The other remained leaned against the wall. Thundercracker spied on them from the top of the winding staircase that led to the recharge rooms. _

"_I didn't want him, you know."_

"_I'm aware. But that doesn't matter, because _I wanted him_."_

_A long silence followed. Thundercracker felt coolant pooling in his optics. He hated when they fought and didn't understand why one father never showed him any love at all. Glancing over his shoulder at his room, he spotted a brand new toy he had picked out as a reward for sitting still during his trip to the medical center for his upgrade, which this time included his wings. He crawled across the floor until he knew neither father would see he had been spying, and then hopped to his feet and ran into his room. _

_He picked up the unopened box and stared at the shiny label on the front, 'Building Set: Kaon Shopping Center'. Looking past the box, he gazed at the parts of the building sets he already had set up in the corner on the floor of his room: The city center, the transport and train station, and the gardens. As much as he wanted the shopping center to add to his growing city, he also wanted his fathers to stop fighting. _

_Thundercracker spun around, bounded out of his room, and down the stairs to the bottom where he stopped and obediently bowed his head before his creators. _

"_His upgrade included _wings?!"

"_Yes."_

"_Couldn't that wait until he's bigger? You realize he'll need to keep upgrading in size every deca-orn!" yelled his one father._

"_And I told you his spark is special! We start him early he'll be ahead of all the others when it comes to flying skills. He could go far in life if we nurture__―__"_

"_Here!" Thundercracker interrupted. Both fathers turned and stared at him. "Here!" He held out the box. "I don't need it! You can take it back. Get the credits for it. I... I'm just happy with my wings."_

_The father that seemed to hate him so much frowned at him. "You think a toy will offset the price of those wings on your back?"_

"_I... I don't know."_

"_Stop it," said his other father, seething. Before he could fix the fight between them, his other father grabbed hold of his shoulder and pushed him toward the stairs. "Back to your room, come on now." _

_He went back up the stairs feeling defeated. _

_Once they were in his room, his father shut the door and walked over to where the rest of his mini- sized Kaon sat. "Well, I think this city needs a shopping area, don't you?" He watched his father sit on the floor and wave him over. He complied and slid to sit on his knees beside him. He watched as the new play set box was opened, and they set up the new section of the city. He remained quiet the whole time as his father tried to act like things were fine, making comments about the toy set. It brought him no joy, though. _

_Orns later, when he was alone, he got a container from his closet and set it on the floor. He wanted to fly. As much as he liked the toys, he would sacrifice anything to make sure he could have the chance to take to the sky on his own power. He scooped up every piece and deposited them into the container. He decided then that he would refuse any toy his father tried to give him again to show his commitment to flying. Maybe that couldn't fix the fighting, but hopefully that would ensure he'd never be refused an upgrade. _

- o – O – o -

Thundercracker's wings tingled. He wondered why as his systems started to come online again. Someone was touching them. Lighting his optics, he turned his head slightly to see Skywarp watching him.

"You looked pretty slagged off there for a while," Skywarp said with a forced-looking smile.

He grunted in reply and rested his head against the berth again, staring at the wall. Skywarp stopped petting his wings and grew quiet. Flexing a strut, he pressed his one wing against his roommate. "Don't stop; it felt good."

Hands resumed their movements over the surfaces in slowly drawn circles that stimulated the hundreds of sensors that lined the dermal plating. "Were you having a bad memory file dump?" Skywarp asked.

"Yeah, preceded by a processor-ache."

"That sucks slag."

Thundercracker laughed a little. "It certainly does."

Skywarp's hand trailed over the leading edge of one wing, following the contour slowly. "So...is Screamer still mad at you or what?"

"I don't know."_ ...figure out what you want, and take it..._Starscream's words repeated in his processor. He never got what he wanted, it seemed. Peace in his household, staying out of the war, even Skywarp still felt out of his reach. He glanced back at Skywarp and his spark quivered again.

Pushing against the berth's surface, he sat up and faced his wingmate, whose usual jaunty smile appeared to be missing.

"What's with the dour face?" Thundercracker asked.

Skywarp gave him a funny look. "Dour?"

Thundercracker reached out and playfully pushed down on Skywarp's helm. "You look upset."

"_You_ look upset!" Skywarp's crimson optics flared.

Thundercracker trailed a fingertip down the edge of one of Skywarp's wings.

A hint of a smile crossed Skywarp's lips as he slid a little closer, his optics focused squarely on him.

Thundercracker glanced over Skywarp's frame. His fingers moved to trace over a place he remembered seeing Dirge kick earlier.

"All the dents are gone. I'm not even that sore." Skywarp playfully tweaked at the tip of Thundercracker's wing. "How about we pick up where we left off?"

"You don't need to be drunk to want to 'face me then, hm?" Thundercracker asked.

Skywarp's optics brightened with surprise. "TC, I've wanted to 'face you since the moment I saw you!"

If that were true, then why hadn't anything happened between them until now? Until they were both drunk? That had to be a lie. Pressing his lips tightly together he felt the urge to end this now. Stop it before anything started, before he ended up disappointed again. He dropped his gaze to floor beside the berth, knowing that he might not have the strength to resist if he looked into those beautiful crimson optics of his wingmate.

A ripple of pleasure tingled over one of his wings as he felt Skywarp start to massage the surface. Unable to stop his body's reaction, he shuddered.

"Skywarp to TC...come back from wherever you went."

Thundercracker slowly lifted his gaze. His spark quivered again in his chest as he looked into Skywarp's smiling face and optics that glinted with his playful nature.

"You want to do some wing-play again? Or... maybe I could do something else you'd like?" Skywarp got all the way onto the berth and kneeled beside Thundercracker. He ran his purple hands over his own torso, trailing slowly over the lighter silvery areas of his otherwise darkly painted frame. "You want to see what I do when I'm alone?" Skywarp grinned, then pressed a hand down over his interface panel. After a moment of harshly massaging the surface, the cover clicked open, exposing the array beneath. As much as Thundercracker tried to will himself to tear his optics away, he couldn't. He watched purple fingers trace over the shape of the extended jack, then push down lower and rim the open port below. "I imagine it's you." He lifted his gaze up to meet Skywarp's optics, which were dimmed to almost black, then trailed back down over his beautiful form to see a purple finger slowly pumping in an out of the port.

"Me?" Thundercracker whispered.

"Hmmm....yeah," Skywarp groaned. "I always pretend it's you. Every time I overload."

His spark pulsed so hard in his chest he thought it might come crashing through his cockpit. By sheer force of will be managed to ask the question that sprung to the front of his mind. "Even with...others?"

Skywarp nodded. "Un-huh."

Desire, confusion, anger, and fear all coursed through him at once. A jumbled mess of emotions he had been holding back for so long broke free. In a flash, he got to his knees and pushed Skywarp against the wall beside the berth, pinning him. Their faces hovered so close he could feel the heated panted breaths of his now wide-opticked trinemate blowing over his face.

"TC...?" Skywarp whispered, looking at him in bewilderment.

"I don't want this!" he yelled. "You understand? I don't want you make me feel like this!"

Skywarp trembled, and Thundercracker pressed his body flush to the heated frame trapped in his grip.

"W-what did _I do?_" Skywarp asked, sounding nervous and a somewhat indignant.

He hadn't done anything. Thundercracker stared into his trinemate's optics, fighting the torrent of contradictory emotions as he tried to figure out what he really wanted. Part of him wanted a peaceful life, but he knew that was impossible. Part of him wanted to tell Starscream what he honestly thought of him and possibly beat the slag out of him, but he knew he needed this trine too much to destroy it. Part of him wanted to be the only one that mattered to Skywarp, the only one to get to touch him... _Maybe I can have that_.

"I want to be the only one."

Skywarp's trembling stopped and his face twisted with confusion. "Only one, what?"

"Only one you care about. Only one that gets to touch you. Only one gets to have you." He felt his own frame faintly start to tremble.

"You are the only I care about, TC. You always have been."

"Then why didn't you..." he trailed off, too afraid to ask. Frightened by the prospect of being rejected, unwanted.

"I'm a trashy little nobody from the gutters of Vos. You were a fragging Elite class mech! I couldn't just do my stupid flirty crap with you!" Skywarp's optics darkened. "I was happy just idolizing you. Getting to be near you. Knowing you'd always protect me."

For a moment his mouth gaped open slightly with shock, then he snapped it back shut. Focusing his optics sharply, he hardened his facial expression to show how serious he was. "Are you not in the most elite trine in Megatron's army? One of the fastest fliers to take the sky over Cybertron? A powerful fighter? The only one I would ever deem worthy enough to share my berth or _my life_ with?"

"TC..." Skywarp's optics grew wide.

Thundercracker then pushed forward and broke a taboo, pressing their lips together. Decepticons didn't kiss. He didn't care, though, as he opened his mouth to allow his glossa to trace the seam where Skywarp's lips met. Instantly those soft lips parted, and their glossae entwined between. Passion surged forward within his spark, the same type of passion he felt when he was airborne. That's when he finally identified the elusive emotion he felt deep within his spark. The emotion powering the jealously, the loneliness, and the fear... it was _love_. That is what he truly felt for Skywarp. It had been distorted under the weight of his emotional repression, but he had no doubt now that was what he felt for Skywarp.

Moaning, he pressed his glossa deep into Skywarp's mouth, flicking it against the inner workings. Skywarp snaked his arms around his neck and opened his mouth wider to deepen the kiss.

This is what he wanted, and Thundercracker decided at the moment he was going to take it.

He pulled Skywarp away from the wall, their lips still locked together, and clumsily turned them sideways to fall back against the berth. The kiss broke with the impact, and Thundercracker immediately looked to the side at Skywarp's injured wing.

"It's fine. Come here." Skywarp threw his arms back around his neck.

Meeting the lustful gaze of his trinemate, he shifted to completely press his body against the one under him. He hesitantly leaned down, brushing his lips over Skywarp's before engaging in another kiss. Skywarp happily melded their mouths together again, and their glossa met in between, playfully pressing and wrestling for dominance.

Skywarp's legs parted, and he felt them wrap around his hips, gripping tightly as he ground his exposed interface array against him. A low moan escaped Skywarp's vocalizer, one that Thundercracker happily swallowed in their long, deep kiss. He then rocked his hips against Skywarp's rubbing the extended jack against his closed panel.

Breaking the kiss, Skywarp gasped and rolled his head back against the berth. "Teee-ceee..." he moaned wantonly.

Thundercracker pressed his mouth the exposed neck cables and sucked at one, while sliding his hand down between them to undo his interface panel cover. With a quiet snap, it opened. His jack had already been pressing to be released from its confined space and extended fully. He gripped both his and Skywarp's jacks with his hand and squeezed and rubbed them together. They both gasped at the sensation that it produced.

Skywarp writhed under him, bucking his hips to increase the friction between their jacks as they slid against each other in his dark hand's grip. Thundercracker groaned and pressed his forehead against Skywarp's chin as he gave in completely to the blissful sensations that racked his frame.

"Jack into me, TC... I want you. I need you..." Skywarp begged, his voice husky and ragged- sounding.

Thundercracker did as he was asked, letting go of his hold and pushing up to position the tip of his heated jack against the entry to exposed port. "Tell me I'm the only one," he said, his own voice sounding strained.

"You are!" Skywarp cried out.

He pressed into the port, his jack sliding into the heated sensor-laden space slowly. He wanted to enjoy every second of this and be sure Skywarp did too. The younger flier whimpered and bucked against him insistently. He pulled back, then pressed in again, this time deeper. He locked his gaze on Skywarp's face, contorted with pleasure. "Tell me you care only about me."

"You're the only one I care about!"

Thundercracker pulled back only to push in again even deeper. Skywarp cried out and moaned all once, coming totally undone before his optics. He was utterly beautiful, splayed out under him writhing with pleasure.

He picked up his pace, pumping in and out of the port with a steady rhythm, totally captivated by the sight of his trinemate under him. Although this was part of what he wanted, he knew he also wanted more: To confess the hidden love he now knew he felt within his spark. "I want to share more than my berth with you," he said as fear washed over the edges of his processor.

Skywarp's dimmed optics focused on him. He opened his mouth, possibly to reply, but moaned instead.

"I want to share my life with you."

"Whatever...you want..." Skywarp eventually replied between heavy pants.

Thundercracker leaned forward so their cockpits touched, while he continued to push his jack deeper into Skywarp with each thrust.

_...figure out what you want, and take it..._

His cockpit split open, exposing his spark to the younger flier. Their rocking motion came to slow stop as Skywarp stared at the pulsing light. Thundercracker watched the yellow-tinged glow of his spark's light play across Skywarp's face and its shocked expression.

"TC...you..."

"I want to share _my life_ with you," he repeated. The fear of rejection, of not being wanted felt like a black cloud hovering over him. He knew if Skywarp turned him down he would have nothing left at all, but he needed the assurance that they were in this together. He wanted this more than he had wanted anything in his entire life, more than even his wanting to learn how to fly. All or nothing now. No more middle ground where he settled for what he was given. To take what he truly wanted for once.

Skywarp's glassy cockpit parted, exposing his own spark. Thundercracker smiled as he saw how quickly it pulsed, the sign of a fast flier. Glancing up their optics locked in a gaze.

"You sure?" Thundercracker whispered.

Skywarp nodded. "You are the _only one_ I trust."

Those words sent a shiver over Thundercracker's dermal plating. He then pressed his chest right against Skywarp's. Tendrils of their sparks reached outward to touch and wind around one another. After a moment, they pulled together, pulsing quickly against one another until they synched up their speed and then merged into each other.

A white hot spike of pleasure, much like the feeling of reaching an overload, took hold of Thundercracker's whole body. He shuddered and moaned at he felt Skywarp become a part of him and he a part of Skywarp. Emotions poured freely between them, and he could literally feel the amount of trust the younger did place in him. He responded in kind, pushing his deeply hidden love into the light of their sparks. Skywarp responded by revealing an equally intense love. The sensation of their mirrored emotions melded together, and they both excitedly shared the joy of revealing their true feelings to one another in such a direct, uncomplicated way. Emotions that words failed to properly convey flowed between them easily.

He was suddenly plunged into a section of Skywarp's memory files: Images of siblings, of a dirty small household, of two adult-sized mechs spark merging, of an older brother carefully pouring out small amounts of energon, and the burning sensation of an empty fuel tank. 'I was nothing, TC. I was an accident...'

Thundercracker opened his memory files to the look of hatred he battled his entire sparklinghood. All the things he tried to do to please those menacing optics that looked at him like he was a horrible mistake, something to be ignored until it went away. 'I wasn't wanted.'

'I want you, TC... I need you.'

'I need you, too, and you are _special _to me.'

In a flash a surge of energy from their combined sparks took over and exploded between them. An overload like no other came crashing through his entire being, and he cried out and shuddered almost violently over Skywarp. Euphoria permeated every corner of his being as he sunk down against the heated frame beneath him and slipped offline, a smile plastered across his lips.

- - - + - - -

An unusually happy hum thrummed through Skywarp's entire being as he slowly came online. His processor was totally at ease, and his systems seemed to all be running within optimal ranges. Even his spark seemed to hum happily, despite his not being able to fly in days. As all the information from the various parts of body was processed, he picked up on two things that felt out of place: One, warmth against one side of his dermal plating; and two, a thread of energy inside his spark that didn't feel like his own.

He let his optics light, and he looked to the source of warmth. Thundercracker lay pressed against him, already online and watching him with his head propped up on hand. A memory file backlog suddenly reminded him of the incredible overload from the evening before. He furrowed his brow, remembering it hadn't been by interfacing alone, either, but by spark merging. No wonder his creators did it all the time; it had been the most incredible overload he'd ever had. He flashed a bright grin at Thundercracker, whose face remained locked in a stoic stare.

"Holy slag, TC, I think you melted my internals last night."

Thundercracker lips quirked into a frown. Why did he look mad?

Skywarp reached out to playfully push at his trinemate's shoulder. "Don't you dare tell me that overload wasn't incredible!"

"It was." Thundercracker moved to wrap his other arm around Skywarp's waist.

"Then why do you look like we just got our afts kicked by Autobots?" Skywarp asked as he started to frown back.

The strange thread of energy within his spark suddenly flared with worry and fear. Skywarp touched his cockpit curiously.

'We bonded,' Thundercracker replied. Skywarp snapped his optics to Thundercraker's face. Had those words been spoken out loud? They sounded like they came from within.

"Bonded?" Skywarp repeated as he stared intently at Thundercracker's lips.

"Yeah..."

The only bonding he knew about had to with their trine. It had been almost a vorn since last time they all took part the ritual petting of wings and unspoken promises of protection. "Oh," he said softly as he tried to equate their sharing of sparks with a flier ritual in some way.

"Sparkbonded. We sparkbonded, Warp! Don't you get it?" As his trinemate spoke, Skywarp felt the thread flare again with the sensation of worry and a fear of rejection. It dawned on him then that those weren't his emotions.

"Wait!" Skywarp sat up on his elbows. "I just felt your feelings inside my spark!"

"Yeah. It's a sparkbond," Thundercracker replied. "You don't know what a sparkbond is?"

Skywarp shook his head slowly.

"How did you get through the Academy without learning about it?" Thundercracker's face contorted with disbelief.

"I skipped classes a lot. I only liked the flying ones." Skywarp grinned brightly.

Thundercracker sat up, looking even more upset, and scooted to the end of the berth. A feeling of impending doom momentarily flashing over their new connection. Skywarp sat up and stared at him, unsure of what the problem could be.

Not willing to let Thundercracker slide away from him so easily, he shifted to sit beside him, crowding him against the end of the berth and wall so he couldn't escape. He shoved his face into his trinemate's line of sight. "What is your fragging problem _now?_"

Thundercracker lifted his scarlet optics to stare at Skywarp. Hurt and fear drawn across his face. "It's new... we can dissolve it still."

"Why would we do that?" Skywarp smiled at the elder, grabbing hold of the thread and pushing his own affectionate feelings over it. He watched Thundercracker's optics brighten. "You think I was lying last night? You think I don't _love you?_"

Thundercracker's face hardened, trying to not show the underlying emotions he could still feel trickling through their bond. The elder felt unwanted and only valuable so long as he attended to another's needs. Skywarp pushed closer, his chest pressing against Thundercracker's leg that he had pulled to his chest.

He grabbed a tight hold of the thread inside his spark and pushed his love over it. "See?" he whispered. "I don't want to break it or dissolve it or whatever..." He remembered the words spoken between their combined sparks, the assurance that he was special to Thundercracker.

The elder leaned his head forward to press against Skywarp's. "You really want to keep it?"

"Yep."

Thundercracker's lips curved into a guarded smile and a small swell of love poured back through the bond, which felt amazing to Skywarp. How in the world could he think Skywarp would change his mind? Thundercracker was beautiful, graceful, a powerful protector... and now all of him belonged to Skywarp.

"We can't tell anyone. Especially not Starscream." Thundercracker reached out to sweep his fingertips gently over Skywarp's face. "We'd get slagged in short order for being soft-sparked."

"Just me and you, all the way, TC."

He watched the guarded smile on Thundercracker's face bloom into a full genuine one.

'I love you, Warp.'

That time he didn't see Thundercracker's lips move which meant one thing: he spoke over their bond. Concentrating on the thread of the new connection Skywarp pushed his reply back. 'Love you, too. You sexy slagger.'

Thundercracker gave his shoulder a small shove as he let out a small laugh.

This was the start of something new and exciting. Skywarp didn't know much about bonding or sparks. What he knew for sure was that he did love Thundercracker, and he planned on not letting him forget it.

* * *

A/N- This is the end of this three part story, which turned out to be the prologue to a longer story that I am working on. I do hope to post the follow up at some point soon. I don't like asking for reviews, but it's helpful to get feedback. So if you like it, please tell me why, and if you have helpful things to also say please do. Thank you!!_  
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